Grinding machinery



Au -16, 1932. CASTER 1,872,405

GRINDING MACHINERY Filed March 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l snow tot Aug. 16, 1932. J. E. CASTER GRINDING MACHINERY Filed March 28, 192:

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Aug, 16, 1932. J. E. CASTER GRINDING MACHINERY I Filed March 28, 1929 4 Sheets- A\lg- 1932- J. E. CASTER 1,872,405

GRINDING MACHINERY Filed March 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 16, 1932 UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN E. CASTER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO CINCINNATI GBINDERS IN CORPOBATED, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO GRINDING MACHINERY Application filed March 2a, 1929. Serial No. 850,680.

This invention relates to a novel and im proved device for rapidly grinding formed or spherical objects, including tapered rolls, ball bearings or similar objects, with extreme accuracy.

' An object of this invention is to provide a device wherein the rough or unfinished work piece, having been fed in atone side of the machine, may be fed step by step lli across the grinding surface so as not to impair its accuracy, and may be discharged as a finished article with dimensions that. are extremely accurate.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved machine of the infeed centerless type in which the relative positions of the grinding and regulating wheels and work rest for size determination, and the limits of their cyclic operative shifting movement, as well as desired relative lateral adjustment, may be readily effected.

A still further object is to provide improved synchronized mechanism for varying the width of the throat and for controlling -Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 77 of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is an enlarged end view' of the work rest and-associated work transfer mechanism, with a portion of the cam guard broken away. j

Figure 9 is a section showing the comb advancing cam, on line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view looking down on the work in operativeposition.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 10 illustrating the grinding of tapered rolls.

In the drawings, in which similar characters of reference are emplo ed to denote corresponding parts throng out the several views, the numeral designates the bed of a centerless grinder having supported at one end thereof a grinding wheel 21 which is operated at a high or grinding rate of speed and rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1, and is driven from a suitable source of power. The grinding wheel has a plurality of circumferential grooves 22 shaped to correspond to the contour of the work pieces which are to be operated upon.

On the bed 20 is a bracket having bearings 41 for trunnions 37 on which a carriage 23 is pivotall supported so that its weight tends to oscil ate it away from the grinding wheel, the carria e being likewise laterally slidable on the bearings 41. To control its lateral sliding movement without affecting its oscillation a bracket 47 having a socket 46 is afiixed thereon in the axial line of the bearings and trunnions, while flange 42, projecting u ward from bed 20, carries nut 43 for an a justing screw 44 having a ball 45 fitted in socket 46. A locking means 63 on nut 43 prevents accidental turning of the adjusting screw.

The oscillation of the carriage is controlled by jahe interengagement of roller 38 adjustably afiixed therein and a cam 39 which is rotated on a shaft 48 in a bracket 49 aflixed to the end of the bed and actuated through suitable gearing from a. motor 50. Cam 39, rotatable in the direction of the arrow in Figure 4, has a sharp lift 51, a gradually increasing or infeed portion 52, a concentric or dwelling portion 53 and a sharp decline 54.

The roller 38 is mounted on a shaft or axle 55 at the lower end of a slide plunger 56 movable in a sleeve 57 fitted in the carriage. The plunger is adjusted by a screw 58 passing through a supporting cap 59 aflixed to a spacing flange 60 on the carriage. A locking means. 62 in the cap serves to hold the screw in'adjusted position, while a graduated col: lar 61 serves to hold the parts in place as well as to indicate the adjustment thereof.

On the carriage is supported a lower slide 32 having a work rest unit at one end thereof. A pilot wheel 33 serves to manually regulate the position of slide 32 when the clamp 34 is loosened. Supported on this lower slide is an upper slide 35 havin the regulating wheel unit thereon, the position of this upper slide being adjustable by the same pilot wheel 33 when its clamp 36 is loosened and clamp 34 is tightened. Thus it is obvious that by proper manipulation of the pilot wheel and the clamps 34 and 36 the positions of both the work rest unit and the regulating wheel unit born by the slides may be adjusted relative to the grinding wheel as well as to each other, and that, by propermanipulation of adjusting screw 58, a still further and even finer adjustment of the limits of the approach of the regulating wheel to the grinding wheel may be had.

The regulating wheel unit comprises a regulating wheel 24, likewise grooved as at 25 to correspond to grooves 22, having its axis adjustably supported at an angle to the axis of the grinding wheel 21, so that in the case of spherical work a dia onal thrust component is created rotating t e work about a constantly varying axis to present all portions of the surface of the work equally to the grinding wheel. Due either to initial truing or to greater Wear at the entrance side of the machine, the grooves vary in depth from front to rear, maximum grinding being effected in the earlier steps and less near the discharge side; the final grooves are therefore subjected to minimum wear, maintaining their relative depth or spacing to insure accurate size of the resultant product.

The regulating wheel is likewise rotated from asuitable power source at a slow or regulating rate of speed as compared to the rotation of the grinding wheel, and also in a clockwise direction, the grinding and regulating wheels forming between them a throat 26 in which slide 32 supports the work rest unit.

The work rest unit comprises a work rest 31 having a work rest blade 29, contoured as at 30 that it may be adjusted as close to the grinding wheel as possible, for supporting work pieces 28 in operable position. In view of the fact that work pieces as fed to the machine are frequently quite irregular inform, if the entire grinding operation is performed on the rough blank by a single groove of the grinding wheel there is a great tendency towards slightly breaking down the surface of the groove, thus causing a variation in the size of the finished work. To overcome this difficulty, the machine is constructed to automatically advance the work pieces from groove to groove, the first groove taking the heaviest cut and the last the lightest, so that in this way a single truing of the grooved wheels will serve to produce a maximum number of accurately sized work pieces. To cause this step by step movement of the work pieces along the work rest blade and at the same time to discharge the completed work pieces and introduce new work at the entrance end of the machine, use is made of an intermittently operated work advancing comb 27. Rising from work rest support 31 is a pair of uprights 74 and 75 which have guide plates 72 aflixed thereto. Horizontally slida-ble between guides 72 is'a carrying plate 71 bearing vertical guides 76 for work advancing comb 27 whereby comb 27 may be guided for both vertical and transverse or sliding movements, which .movements are both effected by the rotation of cams on a shaft 77.

The transverse or sliding movement is effected by a rock lever 68 connected at 70 to carrying plate 71 and pivoted at 69, its other end being connected to a reciprocating bar 66, which is resiliently urged to shift comb 27 in a feeding direction by a compression spring 65, and positively actuated to retract the comb by a roller 67 riding on a cam 64 on the shaft 77. This cam 64 has three concentric portions, the first portion ending in a sharp decline at 93, a second portion ending in another sharp decline at 94, and then the last portion leading from this sharp decline to an incline 95 to the first portion. As the cam rotates, roller 67 rides down decline 93 due to spring 65 and moves the comb one step in a work feeding direction. Roller 67 then rides down decline 94 and moves comb 27 another stepand then it rides up the incline 95 positively retracting comb 27 in one movement through the distance it has just moved in two steps.

To provide means whereby comb 27 shall be raised out of contact with the work pieces in its retractive movement so as not to affect them, use is made of another cam 78 fixed on the shaft 77 having a raised concentric portion at 80. When portion 80 rides in the direction of the arrow in Figure 5 under the finger 73 of the bell crank 79, it serves to positively depress aplunger 81 against the action of a compression spring 82 causing said plunger to depress a pin 86 passing through an ear in the end of the plunger and a slot in the bifurcated end of a crank 87. Crank 87 is splined to an oscillatable shaft 88 journaled in the carrying plate 71 and in this shaft 88 are fixed pins 89 passing through comb 27 and having ball and socket connections with plates 90 afiixed to the comb. When the shaft 88 oscillates, it effects vertical movement of comb 27, but is itself moved transversely with the comb due to the splined connection with crank 87. When cam portion 80 passes from under finger 73 which is just after roller 67 has ridden up incline 95, compression spring 82 serves to raise plunger 81 and lower comb 27 by means of shaft 88.

Inasmuch as both cams 64 and 7 8 are on the same shaft 77, it is obvious that comb 27 will make two work advancing steps, and one step of retraction, and during the retraction step it will be vertically raised and held out of contact with the Work pieces by cam portion 80.

To provide for proper synchronization of the Work advancing means and theoscillation of the carriage, shaft 77 is operatively connected to shaft 48 by a splined telescopic drive shaft 83 having universal joints 91 and 92. Universal joint 91 is connected to a shaft 84 having a head adjust-ably bolted through slots 85 to a gear rotated in turn by a gear fixedon the end of shaft48, the gearing ratio being such that cam 39 makes two revolutions for every revolution of shaft 77, whereby the carriage is oscillated every time comb 27 makes a work advancing movement. This operation is best shown in Figure 4 in which the carriage is shown inaposition with the roller 38 at the low point of cam 39, and the throat is at its maximumwidth, the width of the throat being eXag erated for purposes of illustration. It is w en the throat is thus widened that declines 93 and 94 on camfi permit the comb 27 to advance the work which is then out of contact with the grinding wheel. Lift 51 of cam 39 serves to narrow the throat to operative width, infeed portion 52 moves the work closer to the rinding wheel as it is ground down to size, w ile concentric portion 53 keeps the throat at a constant width, providing a dwell during which the workpiece is cleaned up to prescribed form and size throughout, before portion 54 again widens the throat and the work is moved to the next succeeding groove between the grinding andclines 93 and 94 may be varied, so that with a single decline on cam 64, and an appropriate change in the synchronization gearing, every groove 22' and 25' would be occupied, as in Figure 11, wherein the work pieces are shown as tapered rolls 28'. Likewise,'with 'three declines, every. third groove would be occuied. p When in the fully retracted position, the first notch of comb 27 alines with the discharge tube 96 leading from a funnel 97 and an unfinished work piece 28 drops into place on the work rest blade 29 to be advanced into operative .position by the advance of the comb. The unnotched forward end of the comb overlies and preventsdischarge of work pieces from tube 96 until the comb has beenretracted again. The'last notch of comb 27 having advanced the finished workpiece be-- yond the end of the regulating wheel, the finished work piece drops off blade 29 and is caught in a conveniently placed receptacle.

I claim:

1. A centerless grinder including a bed, opposed grinding and regulating wheels carried by the bed, means for rigidlysupporting one of said wheels, a pivoted support for the other of saidwheels, work advancing means intermediate the wheels, and a common means for moving the support about its pivot to vary the separation of the wheels and to operate the work advancing means during such separation.

2. A machine of the character described including opposed grinding and regulating wheels and an intermediate work rest, said Wheels having contoured work engaging portions adapted to be disposed in opposition one to the other, and means for adjusting one of the wheels transversely to the other to align the contoured work engaging portions with one another, reciprocable means for shifting the work along the throat between said wheels, and means for intermittently imparting an advancing movement thereto.

3. A centerless grinder including a bed, opposed grinding and regulating wheels carried by the bed and an intermediate work rest, said wheels having contoured work en gaging portions adapted to be disposed in opposition one to the other, means for rigidly supporting one of said wheels, a pivoted support for the other of said wheels, means for adjusting the supporting means one to the other so as to bring the contoured portions of the Wheels into opposition, reciprocable means for advancing the work along the throat between said wheels, a common means for moving the support about its pivot to vary the width of the throat and to operate the reciprocable work shiftingmeans in synchronism therewith, and means for adjusting the timing of the work advancing means relative to the pivoting of the support.

4. The combination with a centerless grinder including opposed grinding and regulating wheels, an intermediate work. rest including a reciprocable work advancing means having a work engaging portion movable adjacent the work rest and means for consecutively imparting a pluralityof work advanc ing movements to the work advancing means and for then retracting said work advancing means an equal distance in one movement. 5. In a device of the character described.

a fixed supporting member, a member pivregulating wheel carried thereby and operable at a low or regulating rate of speed, said grinding and regulating wheels having contoured work engaging portions adapted to be disposed in opposition to each other, means for shifting said carriage transversely of said bed for disposing the contoured portions of the wheels in opposition, a reciprocable work advancing means supported by said first slide in the throat formed by said wheels, operable means for consecutively imparting a plurality of work advancing movements to said work advancing means and for then retracting said Work advancing means in'one movement and operable means for oscillating said carriage to vary the width of the throat.

7. A centerless grinder, including a bed or support, a grinding wheel carried thereby and operable at a high or grinding rate of speed, a carriage oscillatably carried thereby, an adjustable slide on said carriage, a second adjustable slide on said first slide, a regulating wheel carried thereby and operable at a low or regulating rate of speed, said grinding and regulating wheels having contoured work engaging portions adapted to be disposed in opposition to each other, means for shifting said carriage transversely of said bed for disposing the contoured portions of the wheels in opposition, a reciprocable work advancing means supported by said first slide in the throat formed by said wheels, and operable means for consecutively imparting a plurality of work advancing movementsto said work advancing means and for then retracting said work advancing means in one ing said carriage to vary the width of the throat and a common operating means for operating both said operable means in synchronism.

8. In a device of the character described, a supporting member, an oscillatable member mounted thereon and means for shifting said oscillatable member transversely of said supporting member comprising a nut fixed to one of said members, a socket fixed to the other of said members and a screw having a ball fitted in the socket for adjustably connecting said nut and said socket.

' 9. In a device of the character described, a supporting member, an oscillatable member, trunnion means for pivotally supporting said oscillatable member on said supporting member, and means for shifting one of said membets transversely of the other of said memmovement and operable means for oscillat bars on said trunnion means to vary the operative relation of the said members.

10. In a device of the character described, a supporting member, an oscillatable member, trunnion means for pivotally supporting said oscillatable member on said supporting member, and means for shifting one of said members transversely of the other of said members on said trunnion means comprising a nut fixed on one of said members in line with the trunnion means, a socket fixed on the other of said members also in line with the trunnion means, and a screw having a ball fitted 'in the socket for adjustably connecting said nut and said socket.

11. A centerless grinder including a fixed supporting member, a member oscillatably pivoted thereon, a contoured grinding wheel on said fixed member, a contoured regulating wheel supported on the pivoted member adapted tobe placed in opposition to the grinding wheel, means for shifting said pivoted member transversely of said fixed member to bring the contoured portions of said wheels into opposition, operable work advancing means supported in the throat formed between the wheels, operable means for oscillating the pivoted member to cause said throat to progressively diminish in width to a desired constant width, to then remain at said constant width for a predetermined period, and to then widen to itsmaximum width again and common means for operating both said operable means in synchronism.

12. The combination with a centerless grinder, including opposed grinding and regulating wheels, and an intermediate work rest including a reciprocable work advancing means having a work engaging portion 105 movable adjacent the work rest, one of said wheels being pivotally supported relative to the other, operable means for operating said work advancing means a plurality of movements and for then retracting it, operable means for oscillating said pivotally supported wheel to progressively narrow the width of the throat between the wheels to a predetermined constant width and then maintain such width for a predetermined period, and a common meansfor operating both said opierable means in synchronism.

13. In a device of the character described, a work advancing means comprising a work rest, a pair of supports rising therefrom, a member transversely slidable on said supports, a work advancing comb vertically slidable on said member, a rock shaft for controlling the transverse movement of said member, an oscillatable shaft carried by said member for controlling the vertical movement of said comb and means for" operating said shafts in proper synchronization,

14. In a device of the character described, a work advancing means comprising a work rest, a pair of supports rising therefrom, a carrying plate transversely slidable on said supports, a work engaging comb vertically slidable on said plate, a rock shaft for moving said plate transversely, an oscillatable shaft carried by said plate for controlling the vertical movement of said comb, reciprocating bars for actuating said shafts, and cam means on a common driven shaft for actuating said bars in propersynchronization.

15. A centerless rinding machine comprising a grinding'w eel, a regulating wheel pivotally supported relative to the grinding wheel, operable means for oscillatably pivoting said regulating wheel to control the width of the throat formed between said wheels, a Work advancing means in said throat, comprising a work rest, a pair of supports rising therefrom, a carrying plate transversely slidable on said supports, a work advancing comb vertically slidable on said plate, an oscillatable shaft carried by said plate to control the vertical movement of the comb, a rock shaft pivoted on the work rest to control the transverse movement of the plate and comb, reciprocating bars for actuating said shafts, an operable means for actuating said cam means and a common means for operating both said operable means in predetermined synchronization.

16. In a centerless grinder, a work advancing means comprising a work rest, supporting means rising therefrom, a carrying plate transversely slidable on said supporting means, a work engaging comb vertically slidable on said plate, an oscillatable shaft in said plate controllin the vertical movement of said comb, a roc shaft pivoted on the Work rest controlling the transverse movement of the plate and comb, reciprocating bars for operating said shafts, resilient means for urging said-bars in a work engaging direction, cam means for positively retracting said bars in a work disen aging direction, and a driven shaft mounte on said work rest, said cam means being rotatable on said driven shaft. I

17. In a centerless grinding machine, a

'work advancing means comprising a work rest, supporting means rising therefrom, a

carrying plate transversel slidable on said supporting means, a wor engaging comb vertically slidable on said plate, an oscillatable shaft on said platecontrolling the vertical movement of said comb, a rock lever pivotally supported controlling the transverse movwment of the plate and comb, a reciprocating plunger operating the oscillatable shaft, a reciprocating bar operating said rock lever, a driven shaft, a cam on said shaft for positively actuating said plunger to raise the comb vertically, resilient means urging said plunger to lower said comb, another cam operated by said driven shaft for positively actuating said bar to retract the prising a grinding wheel, a regulating Wheel pivotally supported relative to the grinding wheel, operable means for oscillating said regulating wheel to progressively determine the width of the throat formed between said wheels, a work advancing means in said throat comprising a work rest, supporting means rising therefrom, a carrying plate transversely slidable on said supporting means, a work advancing comb vertically slidable on said plate, an oscillatable shaft carried by said plate to control the vertical movement of the comb, a rock lever pivot ally supported to control the transverse movement of the plate and comb, a reciprocating plungeroperating said oscillatable shaft, a reciprocating bar operating said rock lever, an operable means comprising a driven shaft, a cam actuated by said driven shaft for positively actuating said plunger to raise the comb vertically, resilient means urging said plunger to lower said comb, a second cam actuated by said driven shaft for positively actuating said bar to retract the comb transversely, resilient means urging said bar to advance said comb, cam portions on said second cam permitting said comb to be advanced a plurality of consecutive steps, and a common operating means for actuating both said operable means to synchronize the oscillation of the regulating wheel and the reciprocating movements of the comb.

- 19. In a device of the character described, the combination of a bed, a carriage, means pivotably supporting the carriage on the bed, and means for laterally shifting said carriage relative to the bed comprising a nut fixed in said bed, an adjusting screw a 

